Died in Crash : 17 Marines Honored at Tustin Base

In a memorial service Friday at Tustin Marine Corps Air Station, about 900 mourners gathered to pay tribute to 17 Marines who were killed in a helicopter crash in the ocean near Japan on Monday. Eleven of those men were assigned to the Tustin base.

“Many good Marines were lost. Not only were they Marines, they were our brothers . . . all of them sons, fathers, brothers, husbands. All of them brothers in arms, all of them Marines,” said Col. David V. Shuter, commanding officer of the MAG-16 (Marine Aircraft Group).

The CH-53D Sea Stallion was one of two helicopters returning to the Marine Corp Air Station in Futenma, Japan, when it plunged into the sea. Both crews were returning from an air show and open house at Iwakuni, another American base, said Maj. Anthony Rothfork, a spokesman at Marine headquarters in Washington, D. C.

Rothfork said all 17 crew members are presumed dead. An investigation into the cause of the crash will take several months, he said.

Craft’s Safety Record

According to Rothfork, it was the only crash of a Sea Stallion helicopter so far this year. In 1984, four Marines were lost and presumed dead after a similar model helicopter crashed 11 miles southeast of San Clemente Island.

In his homily Friday, Navy Cmdr. Robert B. Needham, chaplain for MAG-16, spoke of the promise of resurrection.

“From that premise--that we have a trustworthy God who speaks the truth, who cannot lie--first, we are not to be troubled. God has prepared a place for his children in heaven. If we say there is no resurrection, then we must deny Christ’s resurrection and the biblical record,” he said.

“Because of that, our labor is not in vain, and as Col. Shuter said, they did not die in vain. If we look at these men and only remember them in our sorrow, we will have missed the point. We need to remember . . . that God has given a lively hope to those who trust him, and hence we shall see them again. We do not have to despair. And that is comfort that lasts, that is comfort that heals,” he said.

Names of Men Lost

The names of the lost Marines who were based in Tustin:

Pfc. Thomas J. Agnew Jr., 21, of Villanova, Pa.; Cpl. Stephen H. Blates, 23, of Chicago; Lance Cpl. Andrew G. Bunn, 24, of Phoenix; Lance Cpl. Robert E. Hughes III, 21, of Chicago; Cpl. Robert J. Murray, 24, of Ferndale, Mich.; Capt. James R. Reese, 27, of Bell Mawr, N. J.; Cpl. Paul M. Salcedo, 25, of Cherokee, N. C.; Capt. Donald E. Sellers, 28, of Inglewood, Calif.; Sgt. Daryl S. Thom, 29, Everson, Wash.; Cpl. Thomas S. Tulenko, 25, of Springfield, Va. and Capt. Jeffrey H. Tuset, 27, of St. Paul, Minn.

The Marines who were based at Okinawa:

Sgt. Edward Eddie, 29, of Cousins, N. M.; 1st Sgt. Freddie L. Jones, 36, of Rienzi, Miss.; Sgt. James M. Lizana, 26, of Pass Christian, Miss.; Staff Sgt. Paul M. Mello, 31, of Somerset, Mass.; Master Sgt. John N. Gruber Jr., 39, of Aptos, Calif. and Sgt. Richard A. Piper, 27, of St. Louis.